An air gun used in the car shootings on expressways in Wakayama prefecture in August had been modified to make it more powerful, police said Saturday.</PARAGRAPH> <PHOTO> <TABLE WIDTH='200' ALIGN='RIGHT' BORDER='0'> <TR> <TD><IMG ALT='News photo' BORDER='0' SRC='/images/photos2005/nn20051009a4a.jpg' WIDTH='200' HEIGHT='232'/></TD> </TR> <TR> <TD><FONT SIZE='1'><B>Kenji Kamizono, 25, is transported to prosecutors Saturday afternoon from Osaka Prefectural Police headquarters. </B></FONT></TD> </TR> <TABLE> </PHOTO> <PARAGRAPH>A 25-year-old-man was arrested Thursday night in connection with drug possession and admitted being involved in the shootings on expressways in Osaka and Wakayama prefectures in August and September.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The air gun was one of three found Wednesday in a stolen silver Toyota Aristo which had been abandoned on a street of Kobe.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Because the air gun was powerful enough to be deadly, police are investigating whether the man intended to kill. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>The suspect was identified as Kenji Kamizono. He was quoted as telling police he was the one who pulled the trigger in the two Wakayama shootings Sept. 26 and also in shootings in Osaka. </PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>According to investigation sources, Kamizono also told police he fired the air gun on the Wakayama highways because he did not like the way the car in front of him was driving.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Police sent Kamizono to the prosecutor's office on Saturday. <SUBHEAD> Teen shot by air gun</SUBHEAD> WAKAYAMA –

A 17-year-old boy on a motorcycle was shot with an air gun Saturday by someone in a passenger car, police said.

The incident took place at around 4:40 a.m. on National Road No. 24 in Iwade, Wakayama Prefecture, when the teen was on his way home, police said.

The light-colored car approached the motorcycle from behind, and someone in the passenger seat called out to the teen and then fired an air gun in rapid succession, police reported.

The boy was hit in the face and stomach, but he was not hurt. However, when he tried to make a U-turn to get away from the attacker, he fell and injured his elbow, they said.

The car also made a U-turn as if to chase the boy, but it drove away, according to police.

When the boy and several friends later attempted to stop the car some 300 meters from the shooting, the attacker again shot the air gun.

One of the friends suffered a minor hand injury from being struck by the car.

Police later found about 100 rounds of air gun ammunition at the site. They opened an investigation and are searching for the car.